“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…”
When we meet outstanding people, we are often inspired to be better in some way. Maybe you meet a great intellect, an athlete, a business person, a godly person…greatness inspires us to improve.
When we meet God, He inspires us to desire to be more holy - more like Him. His Word and Spirit are powerfully at work to cause us to change.
When we pray “Hallowed be your name”, we are not only declaring that God’s name is holy, we are also praying ‘Hallowed be your name in me’ - May I honour you and grow in holiness like you.
Growth in holiness
We have the gift of holiness (justification), however, we are still to conform increasingly to the holiness of God in our lives (sanctification). In the book of Hebrews we read,
‘For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.’ (Hebrews 10:14)
If you are a Christian you have been ‘made perfect’; you've already been gifted with Jesus’ righteousness, without which, God’s holiness would exclude us from Him! However, even though we are holy, we are also in the process of ‘being made holy’ - our lives increasingly conforming to God’s likeness.
So when we pray “Hallowed be your name”, we are also praying that God would be seen as holy in our lives - we are His representatives. Wayne Grudem, in his book on theology, writes about God’s holiness; I’ve included his application question for us to reflect on:
‘Are there activities or relationships in your present pattern of life that are hindering your growth in holiness because they make it difficult for you to be separated from sin and devoted to seeking God's honour?'
Let’s pray,
“Father, you are beautiful in holiness. Hallowed be your name in me; please deepen my love and worship of your holy name, and may others see more of you in me. Amen.”
RESPONSE
During this series, let's aim to memorise and meditate on The Lord's Prayer.
TIPS ON MEMORISING SCRIPTURE
We will only do this, and persevere in doing this, if we believe that it's truly important to hide God's word in our heart. So get faith!
Don't disqualify yourself if it's hard - it is hard!
Write the text somewhere that's easy to find and use - a note on your phone, a post-it on the fridge...
Include the reference (book/chapter/verse) throughout the process
Read it slowly and carefully x 10 (Don't rush or dismiss this accurate repetition)
Recall it, without looking as much as possible x10
Do this a few times through the day - a habit is best formed by doing this at the same times, and places each day.
Revise regularly (and revise previously memorised verses)
Make it a habit to learn new verses - skill comes over time
USE IT! Actively use it to pray, worship, counsel, prophecy, and counter temptation and lies by quoting truth - it’s the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).
TIPS ON BIBLICAL MEDITATION - THE 'COME TO JESUS DAILY METHOD'.
Biblical meditation is to prayerfully read, repeatedly, a section of the bible and pray, worship and respond as God leads. Here are a few tips and questions, what I call the 'come to Jesus daily method', to help you when meditating:
PRAY - Ask for the Spirit to help you and to speak to you. Keep the goal in mind - having a relationship with God!
WRITING- Writing/journaling is often a great help as you answer the questions below. Remember, don't allow worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar, perfection... to stop you from writing - it's between you and God. In meditation, I encourage you to write in the first-person, speaking to God - "I see that you are...I sense you speaking to me about...I pray for...."
GOSPEL- What does God, through this text, say to you about salvation through Jesus?
UP- What does God, through this text, say you about Himself – His worth, character, attributes, will, promises…?
IN- What does God, through this text, say about you, His church and how we are to relate?
OUT- What does God, through this text, say about non-believers and our mission?
RESPONSE – Is there anything else that you want to pray, worship God about, do, ask forgiveness about, ask God to help you to change…?
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